# SK Telecom tests AI-RAN to power Korea's digital highway > Source: > Published: 2026-07-14 05:17:02+00:00 SK Telecom said it has been selected to carry out a government-backed "Hyper-AI Network Infrastructure" pilot project to build a next-generation "AI-RAN" network — which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize wireless base stations and run computing tasks on cellular hardware — and test three physical AI services under the initiative led by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Information Society Agency. The two-year project supports Korea's "AI Highway" policy initiative, which aims to build ultra-low-latency, highly reliable networks for physical AI such as robots. AI-RAN refers to networks in which cell towers provide AI computing power in addition to standard communication service, shifting some of a robot's AI processing load onto the network itself. SK Telecom will build and test AI-RAN equipment from four manufacturers — Samsung Electronics, HFR, Ericsson and Nokia — within a single project, comparing performance across different computing configurations. Three physical AI services will be demonstrated: a four-legged patrol robot for industrial safety mo